Pretty Things
by Morty-Lives-Forever
Summary: An innocent, insecure girl and a confident boy help each other through the issues that come with being young. And along the way, they just might find what they really need all along.


**AN: It's been awhile since I've wrote anything, so I think it's about time I did that. Here it is, I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or any brands I might mention here.**

It was a warm, sunny day in August when the two first came in contact with each other. It was the beginning of grade six for both of them. Beginning of middle school. They had just come from two separate elementary schools. When they first saw each other, it wasn't the cliché "love at first sight" type of deal. In fact, the two didn't even acknowledge the other's existence until much later into the school year.

By the time they did acknowledge each other's existence, it was already almost spring. Their English and Social Studies teacher (who was the same person, teaching two different classes), put the two next to each other in the back of the classroom for both classes. Eventually, they became friends. Not close friends, but friends none the less. It wasn't until their grade nine year that they became close. And their story isn't a smooth one. It's rocky, and messy. But also beautiful.

**Grade Nine:**

Fourteen-year-old Clare Edwards was sitting outside of Degrassi Community School on a breezy September afternoon. School had just gotten out, and she was waiting for her mom to pick her up. As she was looking towards the road, she saw a figure come and sit down next to her out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey." The person said.

"Hey Eli," Clare responded.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Nothing really. You?" She questioned.

"Same." He replied. They sat there for a few more seconds, until Clare saw her mother's car pull up.

"Well, my mom's here. See you later." She told him. As she was getting up to leave, he said,

"You know, we never really talk anymore. Here, let me see your phone." He said. Clare handed him her phone. Eli typed in a few things quickly, and then handed it back to her.

"Here, now you have my number." He said, smirking slightly.

"Cool, now we can talk more. I'll see you later." Clare said, walking away as she waved good-bye to him, smiling.

A few weeks passed, and Eli and Clare grew closer together. Eventually, Clare learned that Eli liked Imogen, an ex- girlfriend of his and also a friend of Clare's. Eli asked for Clare's help in order to win Imogen over. Clare could see that Imogen would make Eli happy, so she obliged.

The next day, Clare made her way over to Imogen's desk during their free period.

"Hey Imogen, how's it going?" Clare politely asked.

"Pretty good, what about you?" Imogen responded.

"Fantastic, thanks for asking. Actually, there is something that I wanted to ask you." Clare said.

"Alright, shoot." Imogen said, looking up from her homework to give her full attention to Clare.

"Do you like Eli?" Clare said quickly, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"Uh, well I kind of do. Honestly, it's only a little. I don't think I'd want to go back out with him or anything though. Not for sure if I'd want to go back down that road again. Why are you asking?" Imogen replied.

"Just curiosity." Clare responded, not wanting to tell Imogen that Eli wanted to know.

Imogen just looked at Clare skeptically as she walked back to her seat.

'So she doesn't like me, eh?' Eli texted Clare later that evening after she had told him what Imogen had said.

Clare could tell he was upset, and responded,

'Not really, no. But it'll be okay.' He replied a few minutes later.

'No it won't. I think I love her. She is the only girl that I could ever see myself marrying one day. I love her hair, her eyes. Just seeing her brightens my day.' He said to Clare.

Clare felt a small twinge in her chest at his words, but quickly shook it off and tried giving him some more words of encouragement. Eventually, Eli didn't text back, and Clare figured it was best to give him some time to deal with the situation.

As Clare lay in her bed that night, she felt incredibly sad. Eli might possibly love this girl, and even though Imogen was her friend, she couldn't help but feel a bit of anger towards the girl for not seeing what a great guy Eli really is. And that's when it hit her like a ton of bricks. She liked Eli! She had had a tiny little crush on him since they met in grade six, but she seemed to get those on many of the new guys that she met. But no, this was now more than just a little crush.

Clare Edwards was falling hard for Eli Goldsworthy.

**AN: And there is chapter one! So I feel that I have a bit of explaining to do. Some of you might be thinking that Eli was being overly-dramatic with claiming that Imogen is the only girl he could imagine marrying and yada yada yada. And he was, completely overly-dramatic. But he's a teenage boy who's fallen very, very hard for Imogen. So right now to him, it seems that Imogen is the only girl he could ever love this way. But don't worry, this is an Eclare story! We just have to work our way there. So I'm thinking that this story will be anywhere from 1 to 5 more chapters, depending on how long I make the chapters and where I decide to go with the plot. There will be drama in future chapters, I promise. Please review and tell me what you think so far though!**


End file.
